Blog

Three Massey University researchers have been awarded a total of nearly $200,000 from the Earthquake Commission (EQC), to help New Zealanders better understand our natural hazard risk and identify ways to reduce the impact of those hazards.

Successful applications for this year’s grants were those that aligned with EQC’s research priorities, but also weaved in either a mātauranga Māori, climate change or social science lens over their research.

The programme saw a record number of applicants this year, with around 120 researchers applying for the grant. Thirteen research projects were successful, including those of Associate Professor Julia Becker, Dr Marion Tan and Dr Lauren Vinnell from the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR).

We asked them to share some information about why their research is important and how it will be carried out.

Associate Professor Julia Becker – Long-term communication of volcanic risk for effective decision-making

Communication of volcanic risk varies over time, depending on the status of the volcano and the population at risk. It is made challenging by factors such as uncertainty about the likelihood and timing of an eruption, and the potential impacts which may vary across space and time. Communication about such aspects are essential to inform decision-making.

Dr Becker’s research will investigate methods of risk communication from previous Tongariro National Park events to draw out effective aspects of risk communication over timeframes of quiescence, unrest, eruption, and post-eruption.

“We will also draw on communication lessons from recent earthquakes to identify if these are transferable to a volcano context. Results will help science, monitoring and response agencies frame and provide advice for decision-making. We will be working on this research with a team at GNS Science, alongside agencies and groups responsible for volcanic risk management in Tongariro National Park,” Dr Becker says.

The project team also includes Dr Emma Hudson-Doyle from JCDR and Dr Danielle Charlton, Dr Sally Potter and Dr Graham Leonard from GNS Science.

Dr Becker is a Senior Lecturer and Doctoral Supervisor at JCDR. She undertakes social science research on a range of natural hazards and environmental issues. Her areas of expertise include perceptions, preparedness, community resilience, emergency management and warnings. She has worked extensively in New Zealand and internationally.

Dr Marion Tan – Improving school-based hazards education outreach programmes: towards enhancing alignment with schools and communities

There are many outreach programmes for schools teaching pupils about hazards and preparedness, Dr Tan says.

“These initiatives come and go, their outputs may be well received in the short-term, and their impacts may create a lasting impression on schools and communities. But with a limited outlook towards sustainability and continuity, resources can be wasted in initiating, reinitiating, and duplicating similar school outreach programmes.”

Through this project, Dr Tan and her team will design sustainable outreach programmes that will have a continuous and long-term resilience outlook for the schools and their surrounding communities.

“We will work with schools and kura in the Bay of Plenty. We will use a participatory design methodology where we will design the outreach programmes with the schools,” she says.

The project team also involves Professor David Johnston and Kelvin Tapuke from JCDR, Professor Anna Brown and Andrew Tobin from Toi Āria: Design for Public Good, and Brandy Alger from QuakeCoRE.

Dr Tan is a post-doctoral fellow at JCDR. She completed her PhD in Emergency Management at Massey in 2020, where she conducted her doctoral research on the usability of disaster apps. She has expertise in the use of technology for disaster management with current research interests in user engagement, citizen science, and outreach and education.

Dr Lauren Vinnell – Changing societal expectations and risk appetite: exploring influences on building earthquake resilience in lower seismic hazard zones

While some areas are at higher seismic risk than others, all of Aotearoa New Zealand can and does experience earthquakes.

“Previous research tells us that people tend to perceive lower risk as low risk; in this case, people might think about their risk in comparison to other parts of the motu which can lead to a false sense of safety and therefore low levels of preparedness,” Dr Vinnell says.

In this research, a collaboration with the University of Auckland and the University of Otago, Dr Vinnell’s team will use surveys and focus groups to understand how people in Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau think about and act on earthquake risk.

“We can then use this understanding to inform how we encourage communities in these and similar areas to prepare for hazards such as earthquakes.”

The project team also includes Professor David Johnston, Associate Professor Julia Becker, Dr Emma Hudson-Doyle, and Kelvin Tapuke from JCDR, Professor Jan Lindsay from University of Auckland and Associate Professor Caroline Orchiston from University of Otago.

Dr Vinnell is a post-doctoral fellow at JCDR. She completed her PhD degree in Social Psychology, and is interested in understanding peoples’ judgments and behaviour around preparation for and response to natural hazards. She has experience in experimental survey design and quantitative analysis. Dr Vinnell is currently examining predictors of household preparedness, response to multi-hazard risk communication, impacts of earthquake drill participation, and human behaviour during earthquake shaking.

Last updated: Tuesday 22 March 2022

Six Massey University academics are part of the research team that has just been awarded the prestigious 2021 Rutherford Medal for ground-breaking research on the impact of housing on people’s health and wellbeing.

The Royal Society Te Apārangi presented the medal to Distinguished Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman and the He Kāinga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme from the University of Otago, Wellington, for the research that has quantified the effects of housing interventions on occupants’ health and wellbeing, and informed legislation and policy.

Six Massey staff are involved in the project including Professor Chris Cunningham from the Research Centre for Hauora and Health, who is a founding co-director and principal investigator of the programme and has been involved since it began in 2001. He has led a number of the projects with special emphasis on housing and Māori, including intervention studies designed to improve quality and reduce risks from damp, cold and injury hazards.

More recently, Professor Jereon Douwes, also from the Research Centre for Hauora and Health, and Professor Karen Witten from SHORE / Whariki, have been named investigators on a number of projects. Professor Witten’s involvement has been through Resilient Urban Futures, a programme of research that examined the complexity of urban systems of which housing is a central part with implications for environmental, social, cultural, and economic wellbeing. Her contribution has involved investigating determinants of wellbeing at the neighbourhood scale.

Dr Mikael Boulic from the College of Sciences is a principal investigator at He Kāinga Oranga and completed his PhD as part of the Healthy Housing programme where he investigated indoor air quality (thermal comfort, mould, pollutants) before leading other connected research projects. Dr Hope Tupara and Dr Margaret Wilkie, both from the Research Centre for Hauora and Health, have also been involved.

Professor Cunningham says the programme is the biggest of its kind in the world and is currently funded by a Health Research Council programme grant.

“The programme has been hugely influential in providing the evidence to improve the quality of New Zealand houses and reduce the risks to ill health and injury.  The programme has deliberately used the ‘community trial’ method where all research participants receive the benefit of the numerous interventions which have been tested: insulation, heating and injury risk-remediation of houses.”

The research has shown how straightforward housing improvements to cold, damp and unsafe conditions can significantly reduce rates of infectious, respiratory and cardiovascular disease and deaths, particularly for children and older people.

Outcomes of this research have influenced public policy innovation and implementation, including the Warm Up NZ Programme of insulation retrofitting, the Winter Fuel Payment, and the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act, which requires all landlords to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Housing and Health Guidelines, developed by a WHO International Committee chaired by Distinguished Professor Howden-Chapman. The programme has led to demonstrable health benefits for people involved, as the team has demonstrated in this recent British Medical Journal article Association between home insulation and hospital admission rates: retrospective cohort study using linked data from a national intervention programme.

Professor Douwes says the findings of the research has made a real difference to people’s lives.

“It is a privilege to be part of a team that has been able, collectively, to contribute to improved housing conditions in New Zealand that have already resulted in a significant reduction in health problems resulting from cold, damp and mouldy indoor environments.

“It is a very good example of a cross disciplinary team (Māori health, public health, social science, statisticians, building science, engineering, and economical science are included). Mikael has been fortunate to do his PhD research, and start his research career with the great mentoring of this research team.”

He says while this is a good start, there is a lot more to be done.

“It is wonderful for the critical importance of this work to be acknowledged for this prestigious award, but much more work is needed given the unhealthy living conditions that many New Zealanders still experience every day. 

“There is now strong evidence that living in poorly insulated, cold, damp and mouldy indoor environments may cause respiratory and other health effects in both children and adults.”

The latest Massey University Home Affordability Report shows an overall decline in national affordability over the most recent quarter, largely driven by soaring house prices in most regions and an increasing interest rate.

The report, which covers the quarter from May 2021 to August 2021, shows median house prices across the country increased by 3.7 per cent in aggregate. This, combined with an increase in interest rate, has seen national home affordability decline by 2.7 per cent.

National house price-to-income ratios have slightly improved this quarter, with house prices moving from 12.4 to 12 times the average annual wage.

Report authors, Dr Arshad Javed and Professor Graham Squires from the Massey University Real Estate Analysis Unit (REAU), say the results show home affordability in New Zealand continues to fluctuate from quarter to quarter.

“Again in this quarter we have seen a decline in affordability. If we take an annual view, there’s a solid decline in affordability at a national level of 14.3 per cent, reflected in all 16 regions,” Professor Squires says.

“Within this aggregate result, there are some large regional changes, including a 57.9 per cent decline in affordability for the Manawatū/Whanganui region over the past year, and more than 30 per cent decline in affordability for the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and Tasman regions.”

The greatest increase in median house prices, in percentage terms, has for the last quarter occurred in Marlborough (34.6 per cent or $225,000), Waikato (6.8 per cent or $50,000) and Auckland (4.5 per cent or $52,000). Nine of the 16 regions showed an increase in house prices in this quarter except reduction in Gisborne (-19.4 per cent or -$120,000), Tasman (-5.9 per cent or -$50,000) and Northland (-5.1 per cent or -$35,000).

Read the full report here.

Despite not being producers of plastics, and contributing as little as 1.3 per cent to global plastics pollution, the Pacific region is on the frontline of the plastic crisis and is disproportionately impacted by plastics pollution.

In a bid to support Pacific Island policy makers in their efforts to develop strategies to address this issue, a range of factsheets have been produced, focused on preventing plastics pollution in the Pacific. The five factsheets were launched on the first day of the Third Clean Pacific Roundtable.

Hosted by Massey University’s Political Ecology Research Centre, The University of Newcastle, Australia, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Plastics Pollution Prevention in the Pacific Region side event brought together experts from government, academia, private sector, and civil society to promote awareness and enhance understandings of the impacts of plastic pollution, and discuss strategies needed to address them.

The factsheets cover five key areas – A Safe(r) Circular Economy for Plastics in the Pacific; Plastics Pollution Policy Gaps in the Pacific Region; Plastics, Marine Litter, and Climate Change in the Pacific Region; Plastics Impacts on Human Health in the Pacific Region; and The Business of Plastics: Impacts of Plastics Pollution on Human Rights in the Pacific Region.

Session moderator and editor of Pacific Environment Weekly, Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, says although they may sound simplistic, factsheets are actually one of the key tools used to communicate about plastic pollution in the Pacific. “Most of our schools, organisations, and ministries still depend on paper to communicate, so these factsheets are key to communicating changes on the ground.”

Principal Solid Waste Advisor for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Samoa, Ali’imuamua Setoa Apo, congratulated the collaborators involved in the development of the factsheets. “These will be very useful for the Pacific as awareness and educational materials,” he says.

Funded by UNEP, the factsheets were developed by Dr Trisia Farrelly of Massey University, and Dr Sascha Fuller of The University of Newcastle, Australia, in partnership with CIEL, designer Nadya Va’a, and Pacific Island countries.

Dr Farrelly noted the factsheets were developed from the results of the 2020 EIA Pacific Islands Plastic Pollution Prevention Policy Gap Analysis. The study showed that national plastics pollution prevention plans and policy frameworks are urgently needed to prevent problematic plastics from entering the region. “The study also highlighted that a legally binding plastic pollution treaty would significantly increase the success of those plans and policy frameworks,” Dr Farrelly says.

Patricia Pedrus, from the Federated States of Micronesia Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Emergency Management, discussed the increasing dependency of Pacific Island nations on imported food and beverages, which is contributing significantly to the plastics problem. She agreed that a strengthened policy framework is needed.

This would also protect Pacific communities from the human health and climate impacts of plastics pollution, which do, as Ms Imogen Ingram of the Island Sustainability Alliance Cook Islands, pointed out, occur all along the plastics life cycle. 

Dr Marcos Orellana, UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, made clear that the plastics crisis is not just about waste, as the whole life cycle of plastics has serious impacts on people and their rights. “A human rights-based approach is critical to an effective and legitimate global instrument. Human rights principles can and should inform the transition towards a chemically safe circular economy. A rights-based approach to the plastics crisis can ensure that solutions actually work and do not come at the expense of those most vulnerable in society.”

Speaking on behalf of UNEP, Mr Sefanaia Nawadra, Head of UNEP’s Pacific office, says: “UNEP has always supported and been the convenor for the work on waste and marine plastic pollution, and we will continue to serve this role.”

Mr Nawadra remarked that while factsheets are an excellent first step in the collection of science and knowledge, there is still work that needs to be done to translate the information contained in these factsheets into policy briefs to help countries when they go into negotiations for various fora.

The factsheets are freely available for download and can be accessed here.

The average retired household continues to spend in excess of New Zealand Superannuation, highlighting the importance of preparing for retirement.

The latest Retirement Expenditure Guidelines produced by Massey’s NZ Fin-Ed Centre suggest most Kiwis will need to make provision for supplementary retirement income, in addition to what New Zealand Superannuation can provide.

The guidelines, which are produced annually, calculate what retirees currently spend to maintain either a ‘no frills’ retirement, or a more fulfilling ‘choices’ lifestyle that includes some luxuries. Costs are calculated for one and two-person households in both metropolitan (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) and provincial areas.

Financial support to produce the guidelines was provided by Financial Advice New Zealand and financial adviser firm Consilium.

The guidelines calculate a two-person household living in the city would need to have saved $809,000 to fund a ‘choices’ lifestyle, while a couple living in the provinces would need to have saved $511,000. The lump sums required for a ‘choices lifestyle’ for a one-person household are $600,000 and $688,000 for metropolitan and provincial areas respectively.

New Zealand Superannuation increased by 3.09 per cent in April 2021 but fell short of covering all of the expenses for most retirees.

Only two-person provincial households living a ‘no frills’ lifestyle come close to being funded by New Zealand Superannuation, however these households would still require savings of $75,000. A metropolitan two-person household with a ‘no frills’ lifestyle would require savings of $195,000 at retirement to supplement their superannuation.

The key inflationary drivers for superannuants for the twelve months ending 30 June 2021 were transport, housing and household utilities.

Report author, Associate Professor Claire Matthews from the Massey Business School, says people need to proactively prepare for retirement, and there are several matters to consider.

“Retirement represents a substantial life change for most. The financial aspect of retirement is one of the most important factors to consider, but there are other aspects to think about, many of which will directly or indirectly impact your financial planning. To avoid sleepwalking into retirement, people need to be proactive about their preparation. Factors to consider include budgeting, life insurance, health needs, living arrangements, wills, enduring powers of attorney, family trusts and retirement activities.”

Dr Matthews says it’s never too early to start planning for retirement.

“For the baby boomers that have not yet retired, there is some urgency to this preparation as at most they now have eight years before reaching the age of 65, the age of eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation and widely seen as the retirement age. Retirement now looms on the horizon for Generation X, with the first of these reaching 65 in less than 10 years. While Millennials have at least 25 years before reaching retirement age, it is never too early to start thinking about retirement.

“Retirement preparation could easily become overwhelming because of the number of things that need to be considered, but there are many sources of information and assistance, including financial advisers and the Sorted website,” Dr Matthews adds.

Financial Advice Chief Executive Katrina Shanks welcomed the report, saying it was a further timely reminder about the need for people to plan for their retirement.

“We need to drill home to people that they must start thinking seriously about saving for their retirement from an early age or they will struggle to live the lifestyle they want to once they stop work, and these guidelines clearly show what people need to aim for.”

Scott Alman, Managing Director Consilium and co-sponsor of the New Zealand Retirement Expenditure Guidelines says, “We are really pleased to co-sponsor this report which helps the financial literacy of New Zealanders. It provides evidence to pre-retirees about their retirement income needs. It helps them be better informed about what sort of lump sum they will need to accumulate to fill the retirement savings gap between their NZ Super and private savings.”

About the Retirement Expenditure Guidelines

NZ Fin-Ed Centre, or New Zealand Financial Education and Research Centre was set up in 2011 with an aim to improve the financial wellbeing of New Zealanders. The report’s findings are based on figures from Statistics New Zealand’s triennial Household Economic Survey, adjusted for the effect of inflation. It is important to note the guidelines do not represent recommended levels of expenditure, but reflect actual levels of expenditure by retired households.

Read the full report here.

Hypotonic drinks ingested during exercise hydrate better than isotonic, hypertonic, and water-based sports drinks, according to new research led by a team from Massey University.

Sports drinks, those typically containing carbohydrates and electrolytes, are commonly used during exercise for hydration purposes. The drinks can be formulated to be more concentrated, similar, or less concentrated (hypertonic, isotonic, hypotonic) than body fluids.

Lead author Professor David Rowlands undertook the research with Hani Kopetschny and Dr Claire Badenhorst from Massey’s School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition. The research was recently published in Springer Sports Medicine journal.

Professor Rowlands says there was some confusion and misinformation about which type of sports drink is the most effective at hydrating during prolonged periods of exercise.

“We extracted and analysed data from 28 studies that consisted of healthy individuals and athletes drinking these drink types, as well as water, while cycling or running for prolonged periods of up to three hours, to see what effect the drinks had on central hydration. We assessed this by the simple change in blood plasma volume compared to rest.”

The findings showed one key result: hypotonic drinks, which typically contain a lower amount of sugar and salt, hydrated better than isotonic and hypertonic sports drinks.

Professor Rowlands says looking at the quantity and type of carbohydrate mix in all of the drinks was a large contributing factor.

“Hypotonic drinks typically contain about half to two thirds of the sugar found in isotonic and hypertonic drinks. When sugar [sucrose] is broken down in the intestines into two smaller sugars [fructose and glucose], the result is the concentration of sugars about doubles. This then draws more water out of the body and into the intestines, effectively the reverse of what an athlete wants when trying to hydrate.”

Although, he adds, drinks with more carbohydrates do provide more energy, which is useful for long-duration exercise performance.

“Interestingly, we found that most of the commercial isotonic sports drinks contained a high amount of ordinary sugar. So, in the gut the isotonic drink’s sugar concentration was doubled because sugar is disaccharide comprising glucose and fructose, and the effect on hydration was similar or worse than a hypertonic drink,” Professor Rowlands says.

The team studied the change in plasma volume during exercise, the liquid portion of the blood, and how this was affected by the different drinks. Plasma makes up around 55 per cent of our blood volume, which is important to maintain during exercise to keep up the capacity for oxygen and nutrient delivery to the working muscles, and distributing heat from the muscles to the skin for loss.

“If the plasma volume starts to drop, our cardiovascular system will have to work harder to maintain blood pressure and blood flow to the muscle and the skin. During exercise, plasma and blood volume starts to decline as people become more dehydrated, so our measurements looked at which of the four drinks was most effective in slowing down the decline in plasma, and hypotonics came out best.”

Professor Rowlands says another surprising finding was evidence for a small but worthwhile benefit to hydration with hypotonic drinks compared to water. The research suggests that this may be due, in part, to the sodium in the drinks that helps to retain water in the body and limit losses through urine.

“If there hasn’t been a substantial amount of dehydration and athletes are drinking water it will dilute sodium and increase urine production. This may also occur if too much hypotonic drink is ingested.

“On the other hand, when there has been a substantial amount of dehydration, usually around three to four per cent bodyweight lost or more, then the athlete is more likely to experience declines in performance. In these cases, drinking water or hypotonic sports drinks are likely to be more beneficial because the sodium concentration in the blood has gone up and so drinking more water will dilute the concentration back down towards normal whilst also recovering plasma volume and cardiovascular function.”

Professor Rowlands says a second suggestion that would explain the improvement in hydration with hypotonic drinks compared to water is the effect of the carbohydrate component in the hypotonic drinks. “When these carbohydrates get absorbed in the middle of the small intestine, it helps to draw in water into the body.”

The researchers also noted the benefit of hypotonic beverages for hydration was further improved as exercise intensity increased.

The team are now wanting to focus future research on how effective hypotonic beverages are on exercise performance.

Last updated: Monday 28 November 2022

Scientists have found microplastics in all New Zealand dolphins they examined, a new study has revealed. The international team led by Massey University and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) discovered that all common dolphins examined post-mortem during 2019 and 2020 had ingested microplastics.

The research findings just published in Marine Pollution Bulletin quantified size, morphology, colour and polymer type of all microplastics recovered from stomach contents of dolphins that had stranded around New Zealand. The study revealed polyethylene terephthalate as the most predominant polymer in fibres, whereas polypropylene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene were more frequently recorded as fragments.

The study’s first author, Professor Karen Stockin, says, “We were surprised to discover most microplastics extracted from dolphins comprised fragments as opposed to fibres, which is contrary to most international studies of microplastics in marine mammals, although aligns with New Zealand freshwater sampling. “While this is the first study to record microplastics in any New Zealand marine apex predator, it’s not surprising that microplastics were ubiquitous, given the significant levels of microplastics that have recently been reported in New Zealand waterways and coastlines.”

There are multiple sources of microplastics, and macroplastics, which over time breakdown into microplastics, entering our near-shore coastal environments. Wastewater is one major source. Modern wastewater treatment plants are designed to capture and remove large debris from water during treatment processes, and remove microbial and some chemical contaminants, but not microplastics. This means that high levels of microplastics pass through the treatment process and are discharged into the environment. This has recently been demonstrated to occur in New Zealand. Given increasing concerns about the impacts of microplastics on wildlife and human health, Royal Society Te Apārangi and the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor released a report titled Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand which outlined a timeline of plastic innovations to mitigate impacts. Internationally, studies have hypothesised that human exposure to microplastics could lead to oxidative stress, DNA damage and inflammation, and other health problems. It’s not only the plastic particles themselves that are potentially harmful either. The surface of microplastics in the environment are colonised by micro-organisms, some of which have been identified as human pathogens.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Endeavour-funded Aotearoa Impacts and Mitigation of Microplastics (AIM²) research co-lead Dr Olga Pantos says, “Microplastics have been found in all environments and species that have been tested, including in whales and dolphins in other parts of the world. It was therefore no surprise that we also found them in the stomachs of dolphins in New Zealand waters.”

Dr Pantos, the ESR lead on the current dolphin study, has recently completed a research expedition in Fiordland to examine the levels of microplastics in surface waters. “We did see some pieces of plastics in our samples that would be considered meso or macroplastics, so we are expecting to find microplastics when we process them in the lab. It was very confronting seeing these plastics and then within hours also seeing pods of humpback whales, including juveniles, feeding in the same area.”

Dr Gabriel Machovsky, a co-author on the dolphin study who also co-authored a second study published in Science early this year, states, “Over 1557 species are known to consume plastics worldwide. However, information on the type of species that consume macro and microplastics in the Southern Hemisphere is scarce compared to other parts of the world. Therefore, this study is the first step to better understand the extent of plastic pollution in marine environments and their trophic webs within New Zealand waters”.

What are microplastics?

Microplastics are small (less than five millimetre) plastic particles that have originated either from primary or secondary sources. Primary microplastics are manufactured for specific uses, for example, microbeads are used in personal care products such as facial cleansers, toothpaste, and cosmetics as well as industrial cleaning products. Secondary microplastics are plastics originating from the fragmentation of larger plastic items. Examples include fibres from synthetic clothing and fragments of items such as plastic bags and bottles. Both primary and secondary microplastics can be transported to freshwater and marine environments when they are washed into stormwater and wastewater systems. Plastic particles are also found in the air and can be transported long distances before they settle out through gravity or as a result of rainfall.

Dr Nikki Renall, Taranaki, has been awarded nearly $350,000 to partner with Māori communities to explore new ways to inspire Māori rangatahi (youth) and pakeke (adults) about healthier and more sustainable ways of eating that can reconnect them back to whenua (land) and Te Ao Māori (traditional Māori world).

The Māori Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship grant is from the latest Health Research Council of New Zealand funding round, announced today.

The collaborative research project, entitled Mātauranga Kai, aims to gather pūrākau (stories) about kai from knowledge holders who grew up in provincial towns in Te Tai Tokerau, Taranaki, Tairawhiti and Te Tauihu rohe (regions).

Dr Renall, a Registered Dietitian who graduated with her PhD earlier this year, says the project will record important narratives on kai of kaumātua (elders) and traditional knowledge holders, which will be a taonga (treasure) for younger generations.

“The narratives can be used to develop innovative and inspiring resources for nutrition-related health promotion for Māori and provide culturally relevant guidance for health professionals and dietitians to promote better health outcomes for Māori.

“This research project also has the potential to advance knowledge in the field of nutrition by drawing on other world views of wellbeing and the connection between food, health, and our environment.”

The project will provide essential evaluation evidence of the impact of the Wakatū whānau-led pilot project, that could highlight new approaches for relevant agencies to support and empower whānau and Māori communities to achieve improved oranga in contemporary times, which could contribute to healthier and more resilient communities.

Supported by a Māori research advisory group, the Kaupapa Māori research has five phases:

• Establish relationships with Māori communities;
• Document the mātauranga contained in historical archival materials and academic writings relating to traditional foods and oranga (a holistic concept of wellbeing encompassing physical, spiritual, mental, environmental, and social wellbeing);
• Conduct interviews with whānau, hapū, and Iwi members about their knowledge and experiences of mātauranga relating to kai;
• Evaluate the wellbeing impact of a Wakatū whānau-led pilot project utilising mātauranga and tikanga (customary)-led practices to grow traditional kai on their whenua and;
• Develop a nutrition-related health promotion framework to support oranga for Māori in contemporary times based on traditional mātauranga and values around kai.

“I aim to become a more well-rounded nutrition researcher to lead more impactful nutrition-research that addresses the health inequities of today leading to health equity in the future,” Dr Renall says. 

“This experience will enable me to develop my capacity as a Māori researcher in a culturally appropriate and safe way. The specialist expertise that the collective research team brings to this project will ensure that I am supported to conduct this research safely with Māori for Māori and honour the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi whilst ensuring the protection of mātauranga Māori.

“The Hohua Tutengaehe Postdoctoral Fellowship has given me the opportunity to work with and learn from a diverse group of strong wāhine Māori who I admire, and who contribute to the development of Māori health research that is consistent with tikanga Māori,” she adds.

Dr Renall will lead the research which will be hosted at Massey’s Research Centre of Hauora and Health, with the support of:

• Associate Professor Lisa Te Morenga, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Te Uri o Hua, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Principal Investigator at the Riddet Institute and a Rutherford Discovery Fellow;
• Dr Marg Wilkie, Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi, a Kairangahau Kaupapa Māori (Senior Researcher) from Massey University’s Research Centre of Hauora and Health and;
• Dr Tracy Perry, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Uepohatu, Waikato, Ngāti Wairere, a New Zealand Registered Dietitian from the University of Otago.

Ms Miriana Stephens, Ngāti Rarua, Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui, General Manager for AuOra/Wakatū Incorporation and Dr Meika Foster, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga, a New Zealand Registered Dietitian and director of Edible Research Ltd are part of the Māori research advisory group guiding this project, notably supporting this research with their expertise around cultural and intellectual property rights, and the protection of mātauranga Māori.

Many of us know that feeling when an earthquake hits – sometimes our first thoughts are wondering whether it is even an earthquake, which means potential life-saving seconds are lost before we take action.

An Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system can get these crucial seconds back so that people can be better prepared when the shaking starts.

The Crisis Response and Integrated Simulation Science Laboratory (CRISiSLab), a research and learning laboratory based in the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) at Massey University, has been investigating the feasibility of a low-cost sensor and community-based Earthquake Early Warning system since 2020.

Dr Raj Prasanna, the CRISiSLab Lead for the EEW project says, “We were motivated to start the project by the high levels of seismic risk in New Zealand and the rapid development of accessible technology that now makes it feasible to explore EEW options.

“EEW is a risk mitigation tool that can potentially reduce the impacts of earthquakes. Studies have shown that EEW systems can potentially mitigate injuries and reduce damages and can also help people to psychologically prepare for strong ground shaking.”

People and community

People and the community are central to the team’s EEW project and there is a strong social science component to the project. This is therefore a social science research team as well as a technical research team.

“Right from the outset, we wanted people and communities to be at the centre of the project. We made sure that we started the project by understanding people’s needs and perceptions before developing the system,” Dr Prasanna says.

“We conducted community workshops to understand people’s perceptions, concerns and expectations of an EEW. The social science team has also been investigating the societal use and acceptability of an EEW in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

The social science team maintains a community-of-practice of EEW researchers, practitioners, and technology manufacturers in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally.

“The community-of-practice acts as a platform for stakeholders to come together and generate essential discourse on developing EEW solutions appropriate for Aotearoa New Zealand. The platform also allows us to proactively learn from, and seek out possible collaboration with, experts around the globe. We regularly meet and host activities such as webinars with international EEW experts.”

The project team has also engaged with tāngata whenua since the start of the research programme in 2020.

“Our engagements with Māori have been supported by guidance from Associate Professor Christine Kenney. Māori partners have helped us understand and appreciate Māori worldviews. EEW systems in New Zealand must be developed in partnership with tāngata whenua in order to facilitate reciprocal sharing of knowledge between Māori and EEW scientists, equitable access to, and the cultural relevance of, new risk communication tools.”

How does it work?

An EEW system uses a network of sensors to gather and supply information about earthquakes in real-time.

“Two key concepts that enable EEW systems to work. One is that information travels faster than seismic waves, and the second is that an earthquake’s damaging secondary waves [S-waves] arrive much later than the less destructive primary waves [P-waves]. Using these two concepts, we integrate the capabilities of sensors, telecommunication networks and earthquake detection algorithms to quickly detect that an earthquake is happening. The system then sends information to locations further away to warn that ground shaking will be arriving.”

Key partnerships

The team works in partnership with EQC (which provided funding through the Biennial Contestable Fund 2020), QuakeCoRE, Resilience to Nature’s Challenges (RNC) and different agencies and groups to conduct community workshops. These groups, such as WREMO, AF8 and EastCoast Lab have strong connections with communities.

The team of researchers are from different disciplines and various areas across Massey including: Dr Raj Prasanna, Dr Julia Becker, Dr Marion Tan, Professor David Johnston, Alicia Cui, Syed Yasir Imtiaz, Chanthujan Chandrakumar and Rangana Sampath from the Joint Centre for Disaster Research; Associate Professor Anna Brown from Toi Āria: Design for Public Good; Dr Kristin Stock from Massey Geoinformatics Collaboratory; and Associate Professor Christine Kenney from Te Toi Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa.

External collaborators on the project include seismology expert Caroline Holden (SeismoCity), telecommunication and broadcasting specialist Dr Amal Punchihewa, earthquake engineer Dr Seokho Jeong (Changwon National University, South Korea), software and database expert Nandika Liyanage (ALSO, Germany), creative resilience specialist Emily Lambie, and PhD student Rasika Nandana (Victoria University of Wellington).

Project timings

Dr Prasanna says the project is currently at a feasibility study stage. “We have finished gathering data to understand the public’s expectations and perceptions and we will use what we learned from the communities to design an experimental network.

“We have currently deployed nearly 20 sensors in the Wellington region and have completed testing the performance of an experimental sensor network in a laboratory setting. Currently, we are in the process of testing the accuracy and reliability of our network and algorithms in a real-world setting with real-time earthquake data. The initial feasibility study is expected to finish in July 2022.

“However, based on the finding of the ongoing work we are expecting to secure long-term funding to expand our current work and potentially build a working prototype consisting of a large number of low-cost sensors installed in a number of regions across Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Last updated: Monday 31 March 2025

Te Kāhui Toi, under the leadership of Professor Ngātai Taepa and Associate Professor Kura Puke of Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, has been awarded a Purple Pin for the design of Te Rau Karamu Marae on the university’s Pukeahu Campus (Wellington) in the Toitanga (Māori design) category.

A Purple Pin is the highest recognition in the Best Design Awards for work that leads to advancement and programme design in Aotearoa New Zealand. The awards, delivered by the Designers Institute of New Zealand, celebrate excellence in graphic, spatial, product, digital and motion design and include three special awards – Value of Design, Public Good and Toitanga. The best entries in each category are awarded a Gold Pin and the very best project in each discipline is awarded the supreme Purple Pin.

Pro Vice-Chancellor of Toi Rauwhārangi College of the Creative Arts Professor Margaret Maile Petty says being awarded the Purple Pin in Toitanga is deep honour for the entire college.

“This is recognition of the extraordinary mahi of Māori artists working closely with mana whenua to bring this significant and beautiful taonga into being.”

The Purple Pin in Toitanga is a first for the university. Te Kāhui Toi also received two Gold Pins, one for the Toitanga category and another for Te Wairere category (lighting design). They were also awarded a Silver Pin in the Lighting Design Category.

Te Kāhui Toi is a team of artist-designers, supported by tohunga and tribal leaders, and guided by experts in their specialist knowledge. The judges acknowledged that the team’s mahi on Te Rau Karamu Marae reflects an extraordinary level of artistry, innovation and long periods of work that have gone into creation of a Marae of immense distinction. The judges’ comments were that the work was “A truly breathtaking take on what a marae can be. Flawlessly crafted with stunning detail and imagination.”

Professor Ngātai Taepa says the recognition and award is humbling.

“The calibre of the other finalists was outstanding and it is humbling to be in the company of such accomplished projects and fellow creatives. It is an honour to receive this award on behalf of Te Rau Karamu Marae, Pukeahu and Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa. It is an acknowledgement of tupuna wisdom, Māori creative arts, and the work of the many people involved in the creation of our marae. Nei rā te mihi o Te Kāhui Toi ki te iti, te rahi, te katoa.”

Te Rau Karamu has received longstanding guidance and support from Mana Whenua of Pukeahu Campus, Te Ātiawa, and operational support from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori. 

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori Professor Meihana Durie says since its opening in March, Te Rau Karamu Marae continues to receive plaudits from across Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Whānui for the level of artistry and depth of mātauranga that has gone into the project.

“Te Rau Karamu represents a living, breathing expression of kaupapa and mātauranga Māori, and provides a distinctive and uniquely Māori space upon Pukeahu Campus where staff and students can thrive in the processes of ako and wānanga.

“The success of Te Kāhui Toi is also reflective of their approach to undertaking this work, working closely and collaboratively alongside many contributors including Te Ātiawa kaumātua and pakeke.  It has taken an extraordinary level of commitment to achieve this outcome and Te Rau Karamu is testament to the vison that Te Kāhui Toi have carried through their work  ”

The detailed design of Te Rau Karamu Marae

The design of the wharenui ‘Te Whaioranga o Te Whaiao’ relates to a defined area within Te Waonui (the forest) and focused on the roles of atua such as Tāne Whakapiripiri and Hinewaonui in the creation of Te Rakau Tipua – the cosmic tree. This speaks of the connections to all things, which may be experienced by all of those who enter under its canopy and into its embrace, in ceremony guided by the spatial narrative.

The description for the award reads, “In terms of the architectural partnership and relationships with engineers and fabricators, the mutual respect for kaupapa, spatial and material aesthetics resulted in shared intentions, support and drive to pursue a resolved complex that reflects the highest values of mana and manaakitanga. The majestic maihi featuring glue-lamination techniques of native totara and requiring engineering problem-solving is a testament to these relationships.”

Here is more information on the Te Rau Karamu Marae description for the Best Design Awards.

Team members who received the award include Professor Ngataiharuru Taepa, Kura Puke, Hemi Macgregor, Saffronn Te Ratana, Stuart Foster, Wi Taepa, Israel Birch, Robert Jahnke, Maihi Potaka, Te Kahui Toi whānau whānui. Contributors include Te Matahiapō, Te Huirangi Waikerepuru, Mereiwa Broughton, Inahaa Waikerepuru, Te Ngaruru Wineera, Kurt Komene, Chaz Doherty, Rangi Mataamua, Kura Moeahu, Athfield Architects.

College of Creative Arts staff and students won a total of 45 Best Awards, one Purple Pin, six Gold Pins, 16 Silver Pins and 22 Bronze Pins.